The avowed purpose of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was to
render the Act of 1793 "adequate to the constitutional guarantees"
which had been given to the owners of fugitive slaves. 1. This was to
be done by providing more effective execution of the law and by
freeing the slaveholder, or his agent, from molestation. That Southerners felt justified in demanding such guarantees can hardly be
denied. For abolitionist elements and antislavery advocates in the
North, however, the question remained: Did the desire to placate the
South, and the dangers inherent in the crisis which faced the nation
in the summer of 1850, cause Congress to exceed the limitations
placed upon it by the Constitution? Among certain groups in the
North, answers to this question, pro and con, were highly significant
in the development of public opinion toward the compromise measures in general and the Fugitive Slave Law in particular.

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